Her Protector
by Eternal Outsider
Summary: Storms always scared her. In all courage, the little Noodle ventured through the horrors of Kong to find the most unlikely person to find comfort in. Set during Phase One.


Lightning flashed through the dark sky scaring the little 10 year old underneath the covers. It had rained all day and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Noodle gripped her blanket tightly and gulped quietly as she listened to the rain pelting her window. The thunder struck renewed fear as it rattled the entire building. She feared it would have made the building come crashing down around her, because at a glance this place didn't look too stable, even for someone her age, something like that mattered. She'd only been here for a couple of months, and she still wasn't used to the hidden horrors of the creepy building. She grabbed her stuffed monkey and pulled it close as she dared to put her feet on the floor and leave the comfort of her bed and covers.

The lightning illuminated the room once again and she winced as it seemed to get closer and sharper. The other members were probably sound asleep through this and that scared her a little more to know she was probably the only one up at this ungodly hour. Russel wasn't easy to wake up and if she got to close to him, to try and wake him up, there was the possibility that he could unconsciously roll over and hurt the poor girl, and she decided that he wasn't the safest one at the moment to go to comfort for. And 2D was worse than Russel to try and wake up. His sleep was usually induced by the pills he took, and his mind didn't surface until the drugs wore off. So, as Noodle thought, the only one left was Murdoc. He wasn't the nicest person to be around, and he scared her himself at times with his sharp teeth, awful smells, and his driving. No one cared to go with Murdoc if they didn't have to.

She gulped and decided that she would have to go and find Murdoc and wait out the storm.

As the thunder resounded through her room she quickly dashed over to the door with her covers and her fateful monkey tightly in her grip. Before lighting could get the chance to flash in her eyes, Noodle was out the door and into the hallway. It wasn't at all any better, it was dark and the lightning flashed through the windows lighting the eerie hall briefly. She could feel tears pricking the back of her eyes and she willed herself unsteadily not to cry. She would be turning 11 soon and she knew her fear of thunderstorms was a bit over powering. She was very smart, albeit smarter than the guys at times, but this was her weakness, her fear and she couldn't help but to be controlled by it.

Shivers ran up her spine as she made her way through the ominous hall. Every shadow instantly struck fear into her heart as her mind played tricks, trying to make something as innocent as a dying tree seem like a salivating blood lusting zombie ready to snatch her up and devour her. As she reached the end of the hallway she glanced back trying to reassure herself that there was nothing out there and that she was somehow safe from the thunderstorm, and anything else that could possibly hurt her. The kitchen was as equally scary as the hallway was, and there were sharp objects in here, it could give something an advantage.

Lightening flashed again as the rain began to pound harder against the windows and the roof and gleamed momentarily off of knives that were on the counter. She closed her eyes tightly as she swore she heard something. She gulped and walked blindly along the kitchen telling herself there was nothing as she pulled her monkey closer to her chest.

Water started dripping from the aging faucet, making Noodle involuntarily turn her attention towards it. Straining to see if there was anything that could've possibly turned on the water she sighed in wavering content as she saw nothing and continued walking until she got to the living room. The TV was left on casting more ominous shadows around the room from whatever happened to be on. She walked cautiously into the spacious living room and jumped as she kicked some cans that littered the floor. Murdoc's rubbish she thought. Moving them out of her way she continued until she reached the door leading out into the even worse than scary carpark. She flinched as loud thunder cracked through out the sky shaking the very ground she stood on.

Opening the door she peered inside and glanced around the room looking for anything out of the ordinary, because here in Kong, nothing was ever ordinary. Feeling confident she would be able to make it through there she slowly tip toed towards Murdoc's beloved Winnebago and climbed the steps. As she glanced back, her heart went up into her throat as she saw a pair of red glowing eyes in the shadows, staring straight at her. She whimpered quietly as she knocked weakly on the door keeping her eyes fixed on the shadows. It didn't help the fact that the rain was begining to get harder if that was at all possible.

There was no answer, just complete silence.

The fear that was just tickling the back of her brain grew enormously and sent her frail little body shaking. She could now hear low growling and the eyes seemed to be getting closer for whatever reason. She knocked on the door again, this time a little harder with more reason. Still, silence met her. She gripped her blanket and monkey closer to herself and knocked once more trying to keep her cries at a minimum and gripped the door handle twisting it lightly.

"Murdoc - san, kaihou sono toguchi, nanitozo!" She yelled this time hoping to awaken him. Inside the 'Bago, Murdoc half unconscious, turned over and smacked the nightstand with his head and groaned in pain. Opening an eye and grabbing his head he noticed he'd knocked everything from the table. A beer bottle that was half full was now emptied on his carpet. He growled in his throat and sat up swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He gazed sleepily around the room and ran a hand through his shaggy dirty hair feeling the pain from what had just happened. He stood up and walked over to a mirror that was barely hanging on the wall and examined his forehead. The imprint of his nightstand was proudly stamped and was beginning to bruise. He sighed and walked to the cabinets and grabbed a warm beer. He lazily unscrewed the cap and listened to the thunder that seemed to rumble every few minutes. He sat down on his couch and rubbed his forehead trying to make the pain go away. Sudden pounding on his door caused him to jump as he glanced at it. He stood up and slowly walked over to the door grabbing his gun.

"Damned zombies, this one sure 'as picked the wrong time to come around buggin' me." Pounding again with the discernible sound of growling jerked Murdoc to his senses. He gripped the door handle and twisted it slowly before jerking the door open and pointing the gun out into the carpark. As he did this something rushed in and grabbed his legs causing him to stagger and land on his back. He felt something warm on his chest and opened his eyes to discover Noodle atop of him, crying her eyes out. He sat up and took the child into his arms and looked her over.

"Noodle, love, just what the 'ell are you doing out 'ere at this time of night?" She sniffed as her cries began to lessen and pointed to the door burying her head against his chest.

"Murdoc-san, mon-monster, in, car-carpark. Raiu, sc-scaru me too!" She whimpered. Surprised the girl knew some English, Murdoc stood up and took her into his arms.

"You almost gave me a 'eart attack, you know." He walked over to the door and looked out into the carpark and spotted what probably had Noodle in some of the state she was.

"You'd bet'er get out of 'ere Slumb, yo' scared the poor girl shitless, thanks." He growled out into the darkness before slamming the door shut. Noodle glanced back and saw the glowing red eyes dissapear as if they were never there. She jumped and hid her face again as the thunder sounded loudly again through out the carpark. He walked back over to the couch with the girl and sat down.

"Are yo' scared of the storm, kid?" He asked pulling her closer as he saw the lightning flash. She nodded and jumped again as thunder once again rung out around them.

"Th-the raiu is sca-scary, I co-me to find you." She said brokenly. Surprised, he looked down at the girl wondering why in the world of all people, she wanted to come looking for him to 'protect' her from the storm.

"Well kid,'ere I am. You can stay with me until this fu-" He stopped himself from cussing in front of the girl and patted her head. "Until this storm blows over, and from the looks of it I'm not sure if that's gonna 'appen any time soon."

Noodle snuggled her head against his chest listening to his steady heartbeat, and concentrated on it rather than the thunder, and her fear seemed to diminish greatly. She felt herself falling asleep and smiled as Murdoc held her tight in his arms, his soft gray shirt fading in with her blanket and his chest, her pillow as it moved slowly up and down. Everything faded with the storm as she fell asleep in the warm embrace of the scruffy bassist. He yawned as he leaned his back against the couch seats and laid flat on his back letting the little girl sleep soundly on his chest. The thunder seemed to become less and less and the rain seemed to let up a little,but he sighed and smiled to himself.

The girl chose to come to him for comfort because she was scared, and that was all she wanted. And it was all he could do to be there for her, and he had no problem doing that, as long as it was just between him and little Noodaru.

A/N: 'kaihou sono toguchi, nanitozo!' Means "Open the door please!"


End file.
